The blaze killed 85 people and destroyed thousands of homes.
An investigation found this week that electrical lines owned and operated by California’s Pacific Gas and Electric Company started the fire.
While the devastation is still visible throughout the town, families affected by the fire are hoping to rebuild.
The Buzzard family lost their Ramada Lane. But for the family, they say moving back to Paradise was never a question. The Buzzards did not give up hope after the Camp Fire destroyed their home.
Jason Buzzard said, “There was never a question we were going to come back… it’s just what has to happen, what needs to happen?”
They had only been living in the home for two years.
When KHSL first caught up with the Buzzards a few months ago, they looked back at old photos, including this one their neighbor shot of their house the day the fire erupted.
“We left at 8:30 in the morning, he stayed,” Jason explained. “That’s the fire behind our house. So that’s the last known picture we have of our house.”
In March, the Buzzards got the very first rebuild permit in Paradise.
Two months later, “When I saw we were breaking ground, I teared up a bit,” Jason explained. “It’s just exciting, we’re moving along.”
John Hornback of Ridge Construction is the Buzzard’s contractor. He said, “People want to move back and we want them to move back that’s part of the rebuild you know feeling of Paradise.”
He said he has about a dozen other housing projects in the works. “They’re just gonna keep coming at us, probably more than what we can probably handle, more than anybody is gonna be able to handle here. Limited resources, a lot of people we worked with have left town.”
As of April 30th, the Town of Paradise has received about 60 applications to rebuild. So far, the town has given out about 12 rebuild permits.
Jason said, “Due to how many homes were destroyed there are going to be pockets of Paradise that aren’t going to progress probably as fast as some people want or as fast as some people think it should. But it’s all gonna get cleaned up eventually. So, I’m not worried about it, it’ll get done when it gets done.”
And he said paradise is making great strides. “This is a house that’s really taken off. I think their foundation was okay so they were able to put up their walls very fast. And that’s exactly what we want to see throughout town is houses like that.”
Seeing rubble turn into a standing home is an attitude-adjuster, he said. “When you see rubble like this on the side of the road I think it can kind of depress people still, but seeing a house almost built is a huge positive step in the right direction.”
Six months after losing their home in the Camp Fire, the Buzzard family will continue to rebuild, and just a little over six months into the future, the Buzzard family hopes that they can call this home sweet home again.
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